Archive for August, 2016

CNN has what will probably become a ubiquitous article up about how a gun manufacturer is concerned about Hillary Clinton as our president. I could be dishonest here, but I think gun owners fueling the sales spikes of firearms whenever the NRA or Ruger or whatever right wing crank you want to name bangs the panic drum over taking away your guns are just being stupid. Sorry, but there it is. It always gets shrouded as a second amendment issue, but none of these people trying to rile up the people who listen to them care at all about the second amendment. What do they care about?

Money. This article from CNN actually makes that pretty clear, focusing on sales figures and how the Gun Panics drum up sales. If gun makers were honest, they’d probably tell you what you should already know – that extended background checks aren’t going to really restrict a thing for the vast majority of gun buyers, and is unlikely to hurt their sales. But if they can whip you into a lather that the government is going to come for your guns, well, there you have it. A 19% sales spike.

As for the NRA, you may as well take the “R” out of that acronym. They don’t care about rifles, or hunters, or anything beyond who funds them and what favors they can cater and from who. They don’t support conservation efforts, which should be a huge deal to any hunter. If we don’t conserve our forests and wild areas we won’t have anywhere to hunt. What areas we would have will be devoid of wildlife. The NRA works with gun makers to drum up panic to get people to buy guns, and they push for larger access to national lands, not for hunters, who already have a lot of access to those lands, but for big oil to have an easier time moving in. Once big oil moves in, you think hunters are going to be allowed near the rigs and pipelines with their hunting rifles to take potshots at some white tail? I doubt it.

On top of that, despite what we see on the news every night, the United States is arguably as safe as it has ever been. Violent crime this decade, as a whole, is at a level that hasn’t been seen since the 1950s. Even cop deaths has continued a downward trend since the time of Reagan. For Obama’s 8 years in office, there has been an average of just 61 police deaths per year, which is down from the average in W’s tenure which was down from Clinton’s which was down from H.W.’s which was down from Reagan’s.

folks, you don’t need five or six guns, and you don’t need to pad the pockets of people who are using you. If you enjoy guns, and you like firing them or whatever, go for it. It’s your life. I’ve fired a handful of rifles over time and it was an alright way to spend an evening. But don’t be driven by fear.